South Korean government will construct dry docks at the port of Busan in a bid to furnish large-sized vessels with inspection and repair facilities and prevent the outflow of local talents in the shipbuilding sector.

According to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries on Sunday, the Korean government will launch a project worth between 500 billion won ($448 million) and 600 million won to construct two dry docks and interjoining floating docks that can facilitate inspection and repair services for large vessels weighing 30,000 tons or above.

The oceans ministry together with Korea Development Institute is conducting a feasibility study and it plans to proceed with the project in collaboration with the private sector, said an oceans ministry official who asked to be unnamed. As such construction project takes three to four years that the construction of the dry docks will be completed around 2020, said the official.

Under marine transportation regulations, a ship must undergo inspections and necessary repairs every three years at least. But large vessels in Korea have been forced to head China, Vietnam, and Singapore as Korean ports lack the inspection and repair facilities for large-sized ships. The industry experts estimate at least 500 billion won of national wealth flow out every year due to the lack of such ship repair service system.

Moreover, an alarming number of talents from local shipbuilding industry has been departing for China and Vietnam as they have been nurturing ship inspection and repair sector that is expected to become a stable source of incomes.

The industry experts expect the project building large-scale dry docks would solve the problems that the country has faced. The dry dock is considered to have an advantage over floating dock as it can be flooded to allow a ship to be floated in then be drained for better inspection and repair. The new dry docks would provide local shippers with repair services as well as ship repair specialists with jobs within Korea, industry experts say.

By Na Hyun-joon

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